Sir Peter Lampl: It’s not fair to profit from loans to poorer students

Our Chairman, Sir Peter Lampl, wrote to The Guardian in support of means-tested tuition fees. 

“It is shameful that the poorest students will now finish university with £57,000 in debt, more than those from better-off homes. Our research has shown that graduates will be paying back their loans well into middle age, affecting their ability to go to graduate school or afford a mortgage, and decisions on having children. It is grossly unfair that someone from a council estate should pay more than someone from a top boarding school. At good American universities, all costs are means-tested. That’s why we at the Sutton Trust have 260 students at 60 good US universities, all of which means-test. As our students are from homes with family incomes of less than £40,000, they qualify for grants which cover 100% of their costs. Surely we should take our lead from the US and means-test all costs associated with going to university. ”

Read the letter here.